Portable knockdown building structure



1. E; WILSON. PORTABLE KNOCKDOWN BUILDING STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE Hk I919.

Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

5 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. avwevetoz J. E. WILSON.

PORTABLE KNOGKDOWN BUILDING STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1919.

'- Patented Deb. 28,1920.

5 SHEETS- SHEET 2.

8 wuentoz J. E. WILSON.

PORTABLE KNOCKDOWN BUILDING STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 19I9.

Pateifted Dec. 28,1920.

5 SHEETSSHEET 3.

I wpeutoz 670%22 E" nZgoa Quota,

J. E. WILSON.

PORTABLE KNOCKDOWN BUILDING STRUCTURE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14. l9l9.

'1,363-,379,' Patented Dec. 28,1920.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4-.

3 wwmtoz J. E. WILSON. PORTABLE KNOCKDOWN BUILDING STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, I919.

Patented Dec. 28,1920.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5- 3 vmwmtm 'TZE wzrgm w 0.0. s T 4 tions of which the house is composed that omran STATES lATE NT orrics;

JOHN nnwoon wrnson, or Mount: cannnn, rannsrnvanm, 'essrenon T0 EDGAR n. BASTRESS, or MoU r CARMEL, PENNSYLVANIA.

PORTABLE KNOCKDOWN BUILDING STRUCTURE. I

necae'z'e.

, Specification of Letters Patent. Patented D 28 1926 Application filed June 14, 1919. Serial No.'304,218;. I

rality of units or sections adapted to be disposed in conjunction with each other to form a house of any desired character, the sections being so connected to each other that they may be readily engaged'with or disengaged from each other.

A further objectis to so construct the sec the sections are very strong and when oined provide a very stable and firm wall or roof structure.

- of sections joined in substantially the same manner as the wall sections, the sections being adapted either for a double pitched roof or for a roof pitched in one direction only, these roof sections being further so connected as to make a water-proof and highly durableroof whereby the sections may be disconnected at anytime, either for the purpose of transporting the building or for insertin additional sections to increase the size 0 the building.

A further object is to provide a construction .of this character whereby from timeto time the building may be readily increased in size by the insertion of additional sect tions.

Other objects will appear in connection with the detailed construction as will be hereinafter explained.

My invention is illustrated in theaccom panylng draw ngs, wherein:-

Figure l is a perspective view'of a structure formed in accordance with my inventron; Fig. 2 is an -exterior face viewof one of the wall sections, partly broken away;

Fig. 3 is a section on .the line tie-3 of F1g. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through a corner of the building;

Fig. 5 1s a section on the line '5-5 of Fig. 6 is a fragmentary; perspective view of the construction shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a. fragmentary perspective view of" the construction shown 'in Fig 4;

Fig. 8 isa fragmentary face view ,of two sections and the connecting battens;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary. vertical section through a window opening;

Fig. 10 is an inside face view of one of the roof sections D; I

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary vertical section through the highest wall of the structure shown inFig. l; I v

Fig. 12 isa fragmentary vertical section through the upper portion of the lowest wall of the structure shown in Fig. 1

Fig. 13 is a transverse section ofthe roof structure shown in Figs. 11 and 12;

Fig. 14 is a face view of a sill 44; v

Fig. 15 is-a section thro ugh a hip roof; f

Fig. 16 is a vertical fragmentary section on the line 16-16 of Fig. 1.

' As before stated, this building is made up of a plurality of standard sizedsections, certain of the sections being regular in form, certain of the sections being necessatwo sets of sections being used to "form the side walls of the building and a third set of sections is used for forming the rooidOne ofthe first set of sections is ill istrated'in Figs. 2 and 7. These sections, which are designated generallyA, are approximately 32" in width, for instance and any desired length, depending upon the height of'the building. They are designed to extend from the floor to the roof of thebuilding. Each section is composed (if two longitudinally extending, laterally spaced, members'or strips 10, which are approximately-Q by i and extend the entire length of the secti n. Outrily somewhat irregular in form, andthese ward of these strips 10, there are disposed the longitudinally extending pieces or strips 7 11 which also extend the full height of the section but project outward and inward of the strips 10, these strips 11 being approximately: thick by 2%", These strips 10 are nailed to the strips 11. Extending between the strips 10 are cross braces 12, 13 and 14: which are nailed to these strips, the brace 14 being disposed below the upper ends of the strips 10, and extending diago section or any warping thereof, while at the same time the s'ection is relatively light.

The frame above described is covered with light sheathing 16rwhich may be about e" in thickness and wl1ich extends from the v upper ends of the strips .10 and terminates short of the lower ends of these strips 10. In other words, coincident with thelower edge of the transverse brace 12, as shown in Fig. 11, and is nailed to the strips 10 and .thebrace's 12, 13 .and 14 and to the buck braces. This sheathing maybe made of any suitable material, as for instance thin wood or composition sheathing board. Qver the sheathing is laid prepared roofing paper 17 or fire-proof or water-proof material of similar character. 'It will be noticed'that the brace 12 is disposed above the lower ends of the pieces 10 and 11, but that the sheathing. extends to the loweredge of this brace, and the roofing paper 17 is held in place upon the sheathing by transverse battens 19, 20 and 21. These battens are nailed to the sheathing and to the buck braces or to the transverse braces 12 and 14:, and these battens preventthe prepared roofing sheet or other covering from bulging or otherwise. getting out of shape. The batten 21 is approximately 33 wide and 7 thick, and as illustrated in Fig. 12, forms a joint which securely joins a side section to a roof. section, as will be more fully pointed out later.

The batten 18 constitutes a baseboard, as

illustrated in' Fig. 11, and over the upper margin of whichthe roofing. paper 17 or other fabric extends, this baseboard being relatively thick, and the sheathing 16 on the outside of the sections terminating at the upper edge of this batten or baseboard 18 and resting thereon, asv shown most clearly inFig.11. I

I have above described the sections A which are to be used for forming the side walls, but these sections are slightly modified, however, where the sections are to beused at the corners. Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the member 11 on the edge of-a frame which is to be used at the corner of a building, does not extend inward beyond the strip 10, but terminates at its inner end approximately flush with this strip or projecting but a slight distance beyond the strip. Thus, these sections A may be disposed in right angular relation with the end of one strip 11 abutted against the face of the other strip 11*, and the two sections held in this conjoined relation on their inside faces by means of a corner post of relatively light material, designated 22, through which screws 23, extending at right angles, pass into one of the members 11 and into one of members 10.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the sections A, Y

except at the corners, are to be connected by Vertical channeled members 24. These channeled members or vertical battens arechanneled on their inner faces to engage over the projecting ends of the strips 11 where these strips are abutted against each other, and thus hold the two filall sections in abutted, alined relation. are used upon the exterior of the wall in all cases and may be used' upon the interior of the wall, as illustrated .in Figs3, and these battens are held in position by means of screw hooks 25 (see Figs. 7 and 8) having angular heads which pass through notches 26 in the battens. These screw hooks are inserted through the sheathing boards 16 and,

on the exterior of the section, through the roofing paper 17 and into the sheathing boards 16. When these hooks are turned in dne direction, their heads will lock over the channeled battens and lock the channeled battens in position from any movement relative to the sections. When the heads are turned outward, however, the channeled batbe taken apart. As illustrated in Fig. 6, the outer battens 24 extend over the side margins of the. sheet of roofing paper or other material 17 disposed against the outer faces of the sections A;

"At the corners 'ofthe building, as showntrated in Fig. 4, at' the corners of the build- These channeled battenstens may be readily removed and the sections I ing, the outer margin of the inner face of I one batten will overlap the end face of the batten at right angles thereof, and these battens at their juncture are held in engagement with each other by screws 27, the opposite margins of -the battens being held in place against the panels by means of the screw hooks 25, as previously described.

It will-be seen that by the construction above describedthe joints between twosections are made highly durable and substantial. Such joints I have found in actual practice have extraordinary strength and stability. It will. be seen that the battens may be readily applied and removed both on the inside or outside of the house or structure, and that when so removed, the sections may be immediately disjoined Without any trouble. This is due very largely to the use of the engaging screws 25 with their angular head which, when turned in one direction,

extend over the battens and which, when turned in the opposite direction, permit the battens to be readily removed.

Doors and windows are to be made on the same principle as the sections A, except that as far as the doors are concerned 'a section having therein a door (see Fig. 5) will be made to provide an outer frame comprising the members 10 and 11 with narrow strips of sheathing 16 applied thereto, while the door B will be formed of a rectangular frame having outer and inner layers of sheathing 16" applied thereto, and the door will be hinged in any suitable manner to the-strip 10 of the frame on one side and be adapted to latch against the strip 10 on the other side. Itis obvious that the door, however, might be hinged to one of the battens or that the door may be constructed in any suitable manner to fill the space ordinarily occupied by one of the sections A.

In forming a window, (see Fig. 9) stiles 28 are attached to the strip 10 so as to form a sash channel for a window sash C. The window frame will, of course, be provided with a sill 29 which will extend across one of the transverse braces of the section to which the window sash is applied, as toninstance, the transverse brace 13.

The roof is constructed of sections D. (See Fig. 10.) These sections are made on the same plan as the sections A, and consist of the longitudinally extending strips 30 and the outer, longitudinally extending strips 31, which constitute rafters, which are wider than the strips 30 and extend in opposite directions beyond these strips, the strips being nailed together and connected by upper and lower transversev braces 32 and 33, a medially disposed brace 3a, and cross or buck braces 35, interlocked at their intersections and nailed at their extremities. As will be seen from Fig. 13, the strips 30 are disposed nearer one edge of the strips 31 than they are the other edge so that when the roofing sections are in place, these strips 31 project upward a relatively considerable distance above the strips 30 and project downward only a short distance below the strip 30. Battens 36 engage over the inner abutted edges of the strips 31 and are held in place by the hooks 25 previously described. Battens 37 are connected over the outer abutted edges of the brace 31 and are held in place thereon by screws 38.

These battens 36 and 37 are, of course, applied after the roofing sections are put in place upon the walls of the house. Attached to the outer face of the frame formed by the members 30, 32, 33, 34 and 35 is the .sheathing 39 which is nailed to these members, and disposed at the lateral margins of each roofing section D are the trianguiar corner pieces 10 which rest upon the margins of the sheathing 39. Extending over the outer face of the sheathing is a sheet ofv transversely of the length of the roof, that is extend upward from the eaves to the ridge of the roof.

It is to be noted by reference to Figs. 2 and 12 that the cross brace 14 is disposed below the upper extremities of the members 10 and 11, but that the sheathing ,16 extends up to thefull height of the members 10 and 11 so that a space is left into which one of the cross :braces 33 of the roof section is adapted to be disposed, thereby looking the roof to the side walls. The cross piece 21, however, is disposed with its upper edge on approximately the same level as the upper ends of the strips 10 and 11 and a screw 43 is disposed through the cross piece 21, the outer sheeting 16, and into this cross piece 32, as illustrated clearly in Figs. 11

and 12. 'Of course, the upper ends of the sections, are beveled to conform to the pitch of the roof. It will be noted from Figs. 11 and 12 that the roof will overhang the side walls a distance equal to the distance between the braces 21 and the braces 32, thus providing eaves. By simply removing the screws 43, the roofing sections may be lifted bodily off the walls, or by removing the away (see Fig. 14) occurs, of course, wherever two sections join, thus allowing the battens 24 and 24 to extend to the bottom of the sills. Flooring 45 is laid, of course, upon these sills. While, in Fig. 11, I show the roof as having a pitch in one direction,

in Fig. 15 I show a double pitched roof,

that is a comb roof, but it will be seen that the construction is precisely the same as that shown in Fig. 11, except that two sets of roof sections are used, one on each side of a central ridge. These sections are constructed in the same manner as the sections shown in Figs. 11, 12 and 13, but at their abutting ends they are attached to ridge beams 31 whose upper and lower edges are embraced by the battens 36 -and 37", these beams 31 being attached to the transverse braces 82 of the roof frame and there being filling 40 disposed at the junction between the sheathing 39 and the beams 31, the tar paper 41 or other fabric being extended up over this filling 40 and carried up the outer faces of the beams 31 and held in place by the batten 37 As shown in Fig.1,there are certain irregularly shaped sectionswhich must be used 'to fill in the space between the end sections of .the building and the inclined roof. S-ectionsof this character. which are designated E, are more or less triangular in form and are adapted to be connected to relatively short end sections and the roof. This section (see Fig. 16) consists of a piece of sheathing 46 which is adapted to be rested upon the J upper edge of the outer sheathing 16 of section A and disposed against the batten 21 and held thereto by screws 47. The upper edge of the batten 21 is beveled and the sheathing has applied to it a trans- 'versely extending strip 48 beveled on its upper face and a transversely extending strip 49 wider than the strip 48 and the batten 21 and extending out beyond it to form a water shed for the joint. The battens 37 for the ends of the roof are grooved to fit over'the upper end of the adjacent rafter beam 31, and this batten 37 has attached to it the downwardly extendingstrip or member 50 so that this strip 50 will extend over the upper end of the sheathing 46 and hold the sheathing in close contact with the-rafter 31. It will be seen that by this construction a recess is left between the beam 31 and the member 50 in which the upper end ofthe wall section formed by the sheathing 46 is disposed. A sheet of water-' proof fabric or sheet of light material 51 is disposed against the face ofxthe sheathing rseesve roof and the irregular section E, vand ob viously a water-proof joint is also formed .between this section E and. the sections A.

immediately beneath. Of course, the shape of these sections E will depend upon the shapeof the house.

I have illustrated in Fig. 1 a building con-' structed in accordance with my invention, but this is merely an example of how a small portable building may be erected out of the sections heretofore described. It is obvious that a building of this character may be made in any desired plan and that the height of the building will be determined by the height of. the sections, and that the building may,either have a roof which is pitched in one direction entirely or a double pitched roof. The weight of the roof is practically entirely supported by the upright framing brace 11 and the battens 24 and 24 In other words, these members constitute main supporting elementsof the frames of which the sections are composed. Astructure of this kind may be put up very quickly or as quickly detached. I have found in actual practice that such a structure is very .strong and rigid,'that it will resist Wind pressure to a very great extent, that it maybe made thoroughly water-proof and wind-proof, and a structure of this character is spsceptible to being readily altered to increase or decrease its dimensions whenever desired. Inasmuch s it is made up of units, the units may be rl lrdily turned out at a factory and readily shipped in a knocked-down conditlon to be later on erected. The erection requires no skilled labor, and the sections are so light that they comprising a rectangular frame formed of spaced, longitudinally extending members,

transversely extending braces attached to the members, sheathing attached to one face of the frame, longitudinally extending beams disposed flat against the outside faces of the longitudinal members and attached thereto and projecting laterally be- 'yond the longitudinal members, and battens grooved on their inside faces to receive and embrace two abutted beams, and means detachably holding said battens in place find extending into the longitudinal memers.

2. Astructure made up of sections, each comprising a rectangular frame formed of spaced, longitudinally extendingmembers, transversely extending braces attached to the members, sheathing attached to one face of the frame, longitudinally extending beams disposed flat against the outside faces of the longitudinal members and attached thereto and projecting laterally beyond the longi- .tudinal members, battens grooved on their inside faces to receive and embrace two abutted beams, and rotatable fasteners disposed adjacent the margins of the sections and having laterally projecting heads, the battens being formed with notches to receive'said fasteners, the fasteners being rotatable to carry the heads oger the battens when the battens embrace the beams.

3. In a structure of the character described, a plurality of rectangular frames each consisting of longitudinal members and transverse braces attached thereto, beams equal in length to the longitudinal members terminating short of the edges of the frame,

and attached to the outside faces thereof but projectinglaterally beyond said longitudinal members, sheathing disposed upon the frame and extending to said beams, an

outer layer of composition disposed upon saidsheathing and extending to the lateral edges thereof, battens extending over the sheathing and attached to said frame but and grooved battens embracing two abutted beams of. the adjacent sections and holding the beams together and bearing at its edges against the sheathing to hold the sheathing in place, and-means for detachably holding said grooved battens to the frame. c

4. Ina structure of the character described, two adjacent sections disposed at right angles to each other, eachsection comprising a rectangular'frame comprising longitudinal members and transverse bracing members, beams attached to said lon itudinal members and extending longitudinally thereof but projecting outward beyond the longitudinal members, sheathing attached to saidframe inward of the beams and abutting against the latter, battens disposed at right angles to each other and engaged 85 with each other, each batten having, a

groove to receive the projecting edge .of' one of the beams whereby said battens embrace the beams and hold themin rectangular re lation, and a corner strip. disposed at the junction of the frame on the inside faces thereof and detachably connected thereto.

5. A. sectional structure of the character described, the sections of which are each formed of rectangular frames comprising longitudinally extending strips, a transverse strip adjacent the upper end of the frame disposed below the upper ends of said strips atransverse'brace at the lower portlon o the frame disposed above the lower endsof said longitudinal strips, sheathing boards attached to said frame and; extendin to i the outer faces of the strips, said sheat ing extending to the upper ends of the strips but the lower edges of the sheathinglbeing disposed above the lower ends of the strips,

a transverse batten disposed at the upper I end of the frame upon one face thereofand upon the sheathing and extendin per end thereof, a transverse atten dis .posed at the lower end oftheframebelow to the up- 1 the lower edge of theisheath ing and extend.- a ing to the lower ends of'said-lon itudinalstrips, and beams. attached to t e outer therewith, said superposed wall section having a transverse batten, a portion whereof projects outward beyond the first named batten and forms a water shed, the roof section immediately above the superposed wall section being formed with a recess in yvhich the upper end of said wall is received whereby to lock the roof section to said super= posed wall. e I f In testimony whereof I hereuntov aflix my signaturein the resence oftwo witnesses.

. w J OH ELYVOOD WILSON.

Witnesses:

RAY E: Camzox, Cums H. Ram;

againstthe inner face of the batten and detachably engaged 

